August 23, 2015

Race report -- Cornwall Sprint Triathlon

"Stripping?" I asked the young man as I approached. "Yes, right over here," he motioned.

I'll get back to that in a second. Now that I have your attention, let's get to the race report. This was my first time at the Cornwall Tri. I put it on my list of "firsts" this year, after hearing glowing reviews from numerous athletes. It did not disappoint.

The OTC gang at Cornwall

Swim (750m) -- 17:09

Thanks to a helpful volunteer who told me my time as I came out of the water, I don't have to guesstimate how much of my swim split was the transition time. I didn't feel as strong on this swim as I did last week in Brockville. The crowd at the start line was very spread out, and I didn't manage to catch a draft off the leaders. I did have a couple of people following my feet, and a small group of us came out of the water at the same time. There were plastic mats fixed underwater at the swim entrance/exit, which provided really good footing. Here's where the stripping inquiry came in. I decided to avail myself of the wetsuit peelers (no, I am not making this up). I quickly pulled my suit down to my hips and laid down on the grass. In one motion, the fellow helping me had the rest of the suit off (gotta love those stretchy Roka quick-release ankles, and liberal application of Body Glide). The whole process didn't take more than a few seconds... well worth it, as it saved me having to stomp my way out of my suit while getting my bike helmet on. I exited T1 in 15th position overall, and 2nd in my age group.

Set up in our numbered rack spaces

Bike (20k) -- 38:50

My goal this season was to hit 30km/h average on my bike legs (with the exception of Magog, where the course rides slower). I've done that a few times this season, and today I hit a personal best average speed of 30.9 km/h. The course was very engaging, starting with a false flat that had you thinking "why do I feel so slow??" until you came back down the other direction. It swung into a research park, introducing a fun set of curves and little rolling spots. A section down the main street ended in another fun "up, down and around" to take us into the second loop. The course was closed along its entirety, so we had plenty of room to negotiate the turns. The little jog toward the transition area included a (very well-marked) speed bump and some zigzagging, keeping us on our toes to the dismount line. I managed to move up a few spots on the bike overall, and into the age group lead.

Run (5k) + T2 -- 27:34

How, oh how can 5k seem so long. It's like some strange space/time warp. I did not feel good on the run today. I can't believe I actually ran faster at the Tremblant 5150, 3 days off an injury, where I just jogged it in and let people pass me, smiling the whole way -- mind you, I also took the bike really easy at that race. (Edit -- just realized Cornwall includes T2, Tremblant doesn't)

About 2k in today, I started feeling a bit of a stitch under my rib, but it was mild enough to ignore. I threw down Gatorade at each aid station (sort of, I actually kind of tossed it in the direction of my face and swallowed what I could). By 3k, I had a stitch on the other side, right under my right ribs. This one was more uncomfortable. Whatever... run through it. Look, a seagull! Hey, someone's selling that car. What do they want for it? $15,000 -- hmm, seems steep. I heard footsteps behind me, and couldn't help turning around. "Oh good, you're not a girl" I remarked to the tri relay fellow who ultimately passed me. At 4k, I pressed a fist into my ribs in case that might somehow help. I managed to pass a woman in that last km, unsure if she was even in my event. Mercifully, the finish line was closer to the road that I anticipated. I gulped down the bottle of cold water I was handed as I crossed. I felt pretty rotten, but I had given it everything I could. Others I talked to seemed to feel the same way, that the run took a lot out of them. I had felt a bit of sensation yesterday in the spot that was injured a couple of months ago, so I made my way over to the physio table so they could take a look. I'm glad I did, as he worked at it a bit, it started to spasm. He very nicely helped me stretch it out.

At the awards, I wasn't sure how I had ended up until I heard my name called. I excitedly received my "podium 2015" beer mug, but still wasn't sure where on the podium I had landed. Only when I checked online did I see that I won my age group.

This is really nice to read content of this blog. A is very extensive and vast knowledgeable platform has been given by this blog. I really appreciate this blog to has such kind of educational knowledge.โต๊ะหมู่บูชา ราคา